BREAKING: 3 Memphis cops found not guilty in death of Tyre Nichols

The jury, after deliberating for eight and a half hours over two days, acquitted Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith at the conclusion of a nine-day trial. Despite the state-level acquittal, the three former officers still face the possibility of years in prison due to their convictions on federal charges last year in connection with Nichols’ death.

Nichols fled the scene of a traffic stop after he was pulled out of his car, pepper-sprayed, and tased by officers. Body camera footage also showed police beating Nichols when they took him into custody. Nichols went into cardiac arrest at the scene and died three days later at the hospital, with an autopsy determining the cause of death to be attributed to blunt force trauma to the head. Defense attorneys during the trial argued that Nichols posed an unknown risk to officers because he fled the traffic stop before being searched.